{"id":91304,"date":"2019-12-12T22:34:21","date_gmt":"2019-12-12T22:34:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/durango-shows-support-for-colorados-proposed-methane-rules\/"},"modified":"2019-12-12T22:34:21","modified_gmt":"2019-12-12T22:34:21","slug":"durango-shows-support-for-colorados-proposed-methane-rules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/durango-shows-support-for-colorados-proposed-methane-rules\/","title":{"rendered":"Durango shows support for Colorado\u2019s proposed methane rules"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"More
More than 100 people attended a public hearing Wednesday hosted by the Air Quality Control Commission to hear feedback about the state\u2019s proposed rules to curb methane emissions.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald file<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Durango residents showed up in force Wednesday to support Colorado\u2019s effort to improve air quality and reduce methane emissions from oil and gas facilities.<\/p>\n

More than 100 people attended a public hearing hosted by the Air Quality Control Commission to hear feedback about the proposed rules, which seek to implement statewide methane leak-detection and repair standards for oil and gas operations. The state intends to finalize the rules within the next few weeks.<\/p>\n

Durango City Councilor Dean Brookie said the proposed rules are especially pertinent to Southwest Colorado, where a \u201cmethane hot spot\u201d exists from oil and gas production in the San Juan Basin, which extends into northern New Mexico.<\/p>\n

\u201cMethane impacts the health of everyone living and breathing today in our community,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd it\u2019s curable. Let\u2019s do this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Durango resident Andrea Hennes said oil and gas is thriving in Colorado, which has an impact on the environment and public health.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis pollution can be curbed if these regulations are enacted,\u201d she said. \u201cDo what you can to secure the quality of our air, and therefore the quality of our future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Out of the 50 or so people who spoke Wednesday, only two were affiliated with the oil and gas industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis room is heavily unrepresented with oil and gas because we\u2019ve all had to go work elsewhere,\u201d said Carla Neal, a Durango resident who works for a local oil and gas company. \u201cThese proposed rules are not about health, but another thinly veiled attempt to shut down oil and gas, which they\u2019ve been doing pretty well at.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nathan Goodman, also a Durango resident, said the proposed rules are important not just for Southwest Colorado and the Four Corners, but also the entire state where oil and gas is thriving, such as along the Front Range.<\/p>\n

\u201cMethane and pollution travels over political boundaries,\u201d he said. \u201cWe really are in this together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Julie Cooley, who has lived in Durango since 1983, said the oil and gas industry needs to be regulated.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe oil and gas industry is integral to our community, and while they provide jobs subject to the ups and downs in the industry, the big bucks don\u2019t end up here,\u201d she said. \u201cWhat ends up here is the methane.\u201d<\/p>\n

Deb Paulson said that by capturing methane that would otherwise leak and escape into the atmosphere, oil and gas companies may even profit from the regulations.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a complete waste to let methane just be flared when it can be used,\u201d she said. \u201cI don\u2019t think we can regulate methane enough, especially when it\u2019s something we could be using.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scott Kuster, who has lived in Bayfield for 20 years, said the oil and gas industry often claims that regulations to protect the environment cost jobs. Custer said that\u2019s a false narrative.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not a fair choice, but it\u2019s also not true,\u201d he said. \u201cWe know oil and gas businesses constantly try to stop any kind of regulation that comes down the pike, but they learn how to accommodate it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many in the audience talked about the overall impact methane leaks have on rising global temperatures.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe oil and gas industry has been a massive contributor to climate change, and it\u2019s time to act aggressively to curb these issues,\u201d said George Foster, a Durango resident. \u201cWe need to control excess methane emissions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sage Davis, a student at Animas High School, also raised concerns about climate change.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is my future \u2026 I shouldn\u2019t be worried about our dying planet or the quality of the air I breathe,\u201d she said. \u201cI believe rules are needed to curb this harmful pollution.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chris Ribera, who lives in Tiffany, said his home is surrounded by oil and gas wells. When he first bought his home 20 years ago, he said he could see the San Juan Mountains, but now with worsening air quality, that\u2019s not longer possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cI used to work in oil fields, everything leaks,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd where\u2019s it all going?\u201d<\/p>\n

jromeo@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

The name spellings of Andrea Hennes, Scott Kuster and Chris Riberae have been corrected.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

hearing draws more than 100 people<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":91305,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[2097,3369,1030,738,221,28,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-91304","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-air-quality","tag-coal-bed-methane","tag-environment","tag-environmental-issue","tag-gas-and-oil","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91304","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91304"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91304\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/91305"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91304"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91304"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91304"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=91304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}